/*
 * Copyright (C) 2007-2012 by XDEV Software, All Rights Reserved.
 *
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License version 3.0 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
 *
 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 * GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
 */
 
package xdev.lang;


/**
 * The <code>Copyable</code> interface defines a type safe clone
 * method to create a field-for-field copy of instances of that class.
 * 
 * <p>
 * <strong>Hint:</strong> This interface extends the
 * <code>java.lang.Cloneable</code> interface.
 * </p>
 * 
 * @see Comparable
 * 
 * @author XDEV Software
 * @param <T>
 *            type of the clone
 * @since 2.0
 */
public interface Copyable<T> extends Cloneable
{
	/**
	 * Returns a field-for-field copy of this instance.
	 * 
	 * @return a field-for-field copy of this instance.
	 */
	public T clone();
}
